Gov. Bruce Rauner says there is potential for “superstar” talent to join the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.

The Republican governor is tasked with filling the seats for three trustee terms that expired this month. Rauner said he is interviewing a number of high-caliber candidates.

“If we could land one or two of the individuals we are talking with, it would be national or international headlines,” Rauner said while on a visit to Champaign’s Franklin Middle School on Wednesday. He indicated the candidates care about the UI and already have connections to the school.

As the board prepares to elect new officers Thursday in Chicago, Gov. Bruce Rauner has yet to choose an appointee for the ninth statewide seat vacated last January.

“Our administration is still in the process of considering candidates for this vacancy,” Rauner spokeswoman Rachel Bold said Tuesday.

Last January, three members’ terms expired: Democrats Patricia Brown-Holmes and Ricardo Estrada and Republican Karen Hasara. At the time, the governor said he hoped to fill those vacancies with “superstar” talent.

“If we could land one or two of the individuals we are talking with,” he said 11 months ago, “it would be national or international headlines.”

Bold did not respond to questions about whether those individuals were still in the mix.

One would think when Rauner BOT appointee Stuart King is hosting a big-money GOP fundraiser at his house Rodney Davis would be all over the Governor about attending to the largest employer in his district…you would think, but you’d be wrong.

That’s basically been the problem from day 1. The guy has always had something on his mind other than the actual responsibilities of the job. Not everything is press conferences and TV announcements. There’s a lot of little stuff that’s supposed to get done and all indications are this guy and the rotating crews he surrounds himself with are increasingly unaware of that task let alone up to it.

Rauner’s previous appointment to this board was his crony Don Edwards who worked under Rauner at GTCR, was one of the top donors to Rauner’s campaign and served on the board of a GTCR-owned company that profited from group homes where disabled people were neglected and died. Rauner is also a partner in private equity investment funds of Flexpoint Ford where Edwards is CEO. But, you know, superstars.